Page last updated August 17, 2024
2023-2024
Cathy Satava, she/her
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Cathy came to the City of Tacoma to pursue her passion of civic engagement and expand her interests in affordable housing development, homeownership advocacy, and her commitment to build more equitable and inclusive communities. She came to the fellowship with a wide range of non-profit services and private sector experiences including residential real estate, supportive transitional housing for people experiencing houselessness, and work as a Certified Sustainability Practitioner (CSR).
In her spare time, Cathy enjoys singing, gardening, travelling and getting outdoors.
Cathy holds a Dual Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Public Administration (MPA) in Sustainability Studies from Presidio Graduate School and a bachelor’s degree in Sociocultural Anthropology with a minor in Women and Gender Studies from University of Washington; Cathy also holds an Associate of Arts Degree in Graphic Design & Illustration from Seattle Central Community College.
2022-2023
Joseph (Joe) Franco, he/him
Joe came to the City Manager’s Office after primarily serving in various roles in higher education, most recently in college admissions. He has lived in the South Sound for 10+ years and absolutely loves Tacoma for its small town feel and big city amenities.
His love for Tacoma started in 2009 when he attended the University of Washington Tacoma for his bachelor’s degree. While working at the University of Washington in Seattle, Joe returned to graduate school to complete his master's in public administration with an emphasis in Government at Seattle University in 2019. During his fellowship, Joe coordinated all four City Council Standing Committees and served as a liaison for many of the City’s neighborhood councils and community groups. Joe also worked on Mayor Woodards’ Compassionate Tacoma initiative and was involved in continuous improvement projects to streamline communications in the City Manager’s Office and led a project on onboarding new City Council Members.
Joe also served as an interim Council Policy Analyst assisting with research and development of City Council policies and provided support on media and public relations. During his rotation, Joe successfully guided the City's Public Works and Environmental Services departments through the American Public Works Association (APWA) reaccreditation process.
In his spare time, Joe enjoys traveling, spending time with his friends and family and his goldendoodle Piper, playing music, working out, hiking, and finding the best Teriyaki spots in the Northwest. He is also an avid Seattle Sports fan, and you may catch him at a few Rainiers games during the season. As of August 2023, Joe serves as Special Assistant to the Public Works Director.
2021-2022
Ted Richardson
Ted spent his career in nonprofit human services, establishing a home repair program for
Habitat for Humanity, managing a food bank, working for a community development nonprofit in Guatemala, and helping found a nonprofit to build a vocational university in Mexico. He returned to grad school in 2017 to get his Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, where he studied public financial management and alternative social sector funding models. At the City of Tacoma, Ted staffed two Council committees and the Mayor's Youth Commission of Tacoma, he also served as a City liaison to several community groups, worked on Mayor Woodards' Compassionate Tacoma initiative, and was involved in several ongoing process improvement projects.
In his free time Ted enjoys gardening, reading, jigsaw puzzles, basketball, volunteering, speaking Spanish, speaking horrible French, road trips, backpacking, hiking, and dreaming about new places to travel to. Currently, Ted serves as the Affordable Housing Action Strategy Coordinator at the City.
2018-2020
Bucoda Warren
Bucoda joined the City Manager's Office after completing his master's degree in public administration at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance in Seattle with a focus on Local Government Management. Bucoda is a long-time resident of Tacoma and recently served on the City's Transportation Commission from October 2017 until his employment with the City of Tacoma as a Management Fellow. As a Fellow in the City Manager's Office, Bucoda established the City's first Mayor's Youth Commission, Organized and coordinated the renaming and dedication of the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge with our tribal partners, led the program review and restructuring of Neighborhood Council Program, and supported budget development during COVID-19 Pandemic. Following his time as a Management Fellow, Bucoda served as a Policy Analyst for the City Council before taking a position as the Strategic Initiatives Coordinator where he helps Tacoma meet its strategic objectives though focused community partnerships like the Tacoma Anchor Network, and expansion of equity data through Tacoma's Equity Index. As of April 2022, Bucoda serves as Chief Policy Analyst to Mayor Woodards where he manages strategy, policy development, special initiatives, and community/partner engagement for the Mayor's Office.
2019-2020
Latasha Ware
Tasha joined the City Manager’s Office after completing a master’s of public administration at the Evergreen State College. Tasha is a Tacoma native who graduated from Lincoln High School and received her bachelor’s degree from the Tacoma branch of the Evergreen State College. Before joining the City as a Management Fellow, Tasha served in several capacities at a local nonprofit for a total of eight years. Her background includes supporting community members in economic development opportunities and connecting them to higher education opportunities. She also served as an Outreach Coordinator, building bridges between non-profit bodies of work and fundraising. Tasha also served as a member of the City’s Hilltop Engagement Committee. As a Fellow, Tasha supported the City Manager’s Office by staffing City Council study sessions and council meetings, supporting the West End & New Tacoma Neighborhood Councils, and participating in specialized department projects to aid in the development of policy and streamline processes. After completion of her fellowship, Tasha was hired by the City to serve as Executive Assistant/Policy Analyst at Tacoma Public Libraries where she will work to analyze current and draft new policies, as well as support the Library Director.
2017-2019
William Suarez
William Suarez graduated from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College with a master's in public policy and management. Previous to starting his fellowship with the City of Tacoma, William worked as a Business Development Coordinator for the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber in Portland. During his time with the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber, he managed three contracts while assisting people in Southwest Washington open or grow their small businesses. As a Fellow, William worked with the Community & Economic Development Department to develop tools that will facilitate the launching and growing of a business in Tacoma, on improving the City Council orientation, and on clarifying the role of agencies within Tacoma for citizens. After completing his Fellowship William was hired as a management analyst for Community & Economic Development and will be doing outreach for Tacoma's small businesses in the south and east ends. Today, William serves as a Grants Manager with King County.
2017-2018
Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell received his master’s in public administration from The University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a concentration in non-profit management and a bachelor’s degree in public management from Millsaps College. As a Continuous Improvement Management Fellow, Chris supported the Office of Management and Budget-Continuous Improvement Program by providing technical assistance and management support Citywide in collaboration with other City staff to prioritize problems, analyze processes and develop solutions. Chris also provided technical support to the Livable City Year program, prepared the T-Town City Services Expo and assisted in the planning of Transforming Local Government Conference. In addition, he provided technical support to the City Council, neighborhood council, committees, and strategic initiatives in the City Manager’s Office. He then went on to serve as a Social Wellness Systems Analyst in the Neighborhood and Community Services Department.
2016-2018
David Nash-Mendez
David Nash-Mendez received his master's in public administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington through their Peace Corps Masters International program, combining his studies with practical application as a Peace Corps Community Development Volunteer in the Republic of Macedonia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Following a six month rotation in the City Manager’s Office, David worked on community outreach and engagement of immigrant and refugee communities in the Office of Equity and Human Rights, partnered with the Information Technology Department on the City's Digital Equity Initiative. After his Fellowship David transitioned to the Office of Management and Budget where he led budget outreach and supported the budgets of the City Manager's Office and City Council. Today, David is a Communications and Training Specialist for The Global Fund.
2015-2017
India Adams-Jacobs
India Adams received her master's degree in public administration with a graduate certificate in local government management from Virginia Tech's Center for Public Administration and Policy and a bachelor's degree in public administration from George Mason University's School of Policy, Government and International Affairs. While in her rotation in the City Manager’s Office, India led a number of community partnership and engagement efforts, including successfully creating Tacoma’s Student Government Day program in collaboration with Tacoma Public Schools and the T-Town City Services Expo. After her Fellowship she joined the Community and Economic Development Department where she supported the launch of the "Make it Tacoma" website, and a study of downtown retail amenities. She currently serves as the Town Manager of Colonial Beach, VA.
2014-2016
Genesis Gavino
Genesis received her Masters in Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington with a focus in organizational management. During her Fellowship, Genesis focused on health and
human services by providing staff support and policy research and analysis specific to homelessness and housing stability. Following her Fellowship, she took an analyst position with the City of Tacoma and worked on acquisition and development of facility for youth and young adult drop-in center, development and implementation of faith-based partnership to increase sheltering capacity for families experiencing homelessness, and conducted management studies and analysis or current and proposed operations to evaluate effectiveness of programs and activities. She now serves as the Chief of Staff and Resilience Officer for the City of Dallas, Texas.
2013-2015
Christina (Watts) Curran
Before becoming a Management Fellow, Christina served as a 2010 Teach For America corps member in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she taught preschool to low-income students. She earned her master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas. During her Fellowship, she supported implementation of the City’s Tacoma FIRST 311 online Customer Support Center, oversaw planning for the City’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, and staffed the Steering and Development Committee for Tacoma’s strategic plan, Tacoma 2025. After serving as a Management Fellow in the City Manager’s Office, she joined the City’s Office of Management and Budget, later becoming a lead analyst. In that role, she has supported multiple City Departments with biennial budget development including Public Works and Environmental Services, and she revamped and now oversees the City’s Capital Budget.
2012-2014
Reid Bennion
Reid received his Masters in Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Washington with a focus on urban and regional affairs. After the Fellowship Reid remained with the City and served as a management analyst in the Public Works department on the Streets Initiative program. Today, Reid serves as the Lead Management and Budget Analyst for the Office of Management and Budget.
2011-2013
Katie (Hampton) Johnston
Katie received her Masters in Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington with a focus in environmental policy. As a Fellow, Katie facilitated and led cross-departmental teams to analyze and propose recommendations regarding budgeting, speeding, habitat and recreation land management, and unimproved rights of way policies. She went on to be the lead Management and Budget Analyst after her Fellowship where she led the City’s Continuous Improvement Initiative and performance management system implementation. Today Katie serves as the Budget Officer for the City.
2009-2011
Shane Pettit
Shane Pettit received his master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Texas and a bachelor’s degree in history from Texas Tech University. After serving as a Management Fellow in the City Manager’s Office, he was a management analyst and later an operations support manager for the Environmental Services Department. While in these roles, Shane developed and managed a $145 million biennial budget for the solid waste utility and co-led the development of the department’s 2018-2025 strategic plan . Currently (2019) he is the Assistant Division Manager for Onsite Operations at the Tacoma Recovery & Transfer Center where he supports and leads a team of 50 employees focused on customer service, teamwork, equity, and efficiency as they operate and maintain facilities to support healthy neighborhoods and a thriving Puget Sound.
2007-2009
Allyson Griffith
Allyson received her Masters in Public Administration from the University of Oregon. One of the earliest Fellows in the Tacoma Management Fellowship program, Allyson helped to develop the duties of the position and supported the City Manager’s Office in many capacities. She went on to work as a program development specialist in the Neighborhood and Community Services Department, and today is the Director for the Neighborhood and Community Services Department.
2006-2008
Christian Clegg
Christian earned his master's degree in public administration from the University of Kansas. Among the first Fellows in the program before it became what it is today, Christian set the tone for Fellows going forward. His projects including implementation of Customer Relationship Management Software, lead for cross-departmental team addressing urban blight and facilitating development of a rental housing inspection program. He was with Tacoma for five years before moving to California where he went on to serve as the Deputy City Manager for the City of Stockton. Currently, Christian serves as the City Manager of Bakersfield, CA.